Key events
As a new recruitment drive looms, some Ukrainian men are turning to online handlers and forgers to escape the horror of war.
Attempts to flee the country are expected to increase after Ukraine’s recent adoption of new sweeping mobilisation measures, which allow the military to call up more soldiers and impose stricter penalties for draft evasion.
I am not made for war. I can’t kill people, even if they are Russians. I won’t last long on the front … I want to build a family and see the world. I am not ready to die,” Dmytro, 31-year-old Ukrainian, said.
As the number of available soldiers dwindles, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, last April signed a controversial law that lowered the mobilisation age from 27 to 25. Under the new guidelines, draft evaders can lose their driving licence, have their bank accounts frozen and property seized.
A Ukrainian drone has killed five people in Russia’s borderline Kursk region, the Russian state-owned news agency Tass news agency reported on Saturday, citing Kursk governor Alexey Smirnov.
“Tonight, a Ukrainian copter attacked a residential building in the village of Gorodishche, Rylsky district. Unfortunately, 5 people died as a result of the discharge, including 2 small children.
“Two more family members were taken to the Rylsk regional hospital in serious condition, where they are receiving medical care. I offer my deepest condolences to the families and friends of the victims,” Smirnov wrote on Telegram.
The Guardian has not independently verified the report.
Both sides have used drones extensively throughout the conflict which began in February 2022.
Ten Ukrainians held prisoner for years by Russia have been released with the Vatican’s mediation, president Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on Friday.
The Associated Press reported that part of the group arrived overnight at Kyiv International Airport – the first passengers the airport has received in over two years. The rest of the group arrived by bus.
Among the freed was Nariman Dzhelyal, the deputy head of the Mejlis, a representative body of Crimean Tatars that was relocated to Kyiv after Russia seized Crimea.
After Vladimir Putin’s illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014, Crimean Tatars were persecuted using harassment, arrests and disappearances.
Moscow banned the Mejlis, declaring it an extremist organisation, and it has jailed members of the community since, citing security concerns.
Dzhelyal was taken from Crimea, where he lived despite the annexation, one year before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. “I was in captivity, where many Ukrainians remain,” he said. “We cannot leave them there, because the conditions, both psychological and physical, are very frightening there.”
According to Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, 3,310 Ukrainians have been released from Russian captivity. But many thousands, both civilians and military personnel, are still imprisoned.
Although the Kremlin refused to comment on Donald Trump’s claims that he would end the Russia-Ukraine war, Russian state media state media reported on the debate in detail, honing in on Joe Biden’s weak performance and Trump’s remarks on settling the conflict.
The Kremlin downplayed the significance of the event. “I don’t think you expect the president of Russia might set an alarm clock, wake up before morning and watch the debates in the United States of America,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters when asked if he had watched the debate, adding: “Debates in the United States are not part of the main issues on the agenda.”
But while the Kremlin affected an unbothered stance on the event, which later saw president Biden acknowledge his shaky performance, Russian state news honed in on it. In its coverage of the debate, state news agency RIA included a tally of how many times the candidates mentioned the name “Vladimir Putin” (seven times for both) and Russia (Trump: 16, Biden: 0).
State media also shared the results of a CNN poll showing that two-thirds of US voters believe Trump won the debate. Several Russian media outlets also published stories on Trump’s comments that “Ukraine’s not winning that war” because of Biden “and his stupid decisions”.
Kremlin refuses to comment on Trump’s Ukraine claim
Good morning and welcome to today’s Ukraine blog. The local time in Kyiv is 10:42am.
The Kremlin has refused to comment after Donald Trump has said that if re-elected in November, he will settle its war against Ukraine.
Trump made the remarks during Thursday’s US presidential debate, where he and president Joe Biden competed to appear tougher on foreign policy.
“As far as Russia and Ukraine, if we had a real president, a president that knew – that was respected by Putin, he would have never – he would have never invaded Ukraine,” Trump said.
Biden responded: “Go ahead, let Putin go in and control Ukraine, and then move on to Poland and other places. See what happens then. He has no idea what the hell he’s talking about.”
More on that in a bit. Meanwhile, the following developments have been reported:
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A Russian missile strike hit a nine-storey residential building in the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro on Friday, killing at least one person and injuring six others, officials said.
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Volodymyr Zelenskiy said 10 civilians including a politician and two priests taken prisoner in Russia and Belarus had been freed in a deal mediated by the Vatican.
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Russia’s defence ministry claimed its forces had taken control of the settlement of Rozdolivka in eastern Ukraine, but the Ukrainian military said heavy fighting was raging in areas around the settlement.
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The Biden administration will provide Ukraine with $150m worth of weapons and ammunition, including Hawk air defence interceptors and 155mm artillery munitions, two US officials said.
We’ll bring you more updates and context as the day unfolds.
